Defense has been getting the job done for Fitch in the early going
Howdy, It hasn't been the start to the season the Fitch coaches and players expected. It was a season of promise, after last year's playoff berth, that began with a 6-0 loss to Hamden and an 8-0 deficit Friday night to Harding.
Fitch's first touchdown of the season came with 34 seconds left in the first half, Tyler Nelli's pass to Noah Charron. That meant the Falcons went, essentially, the first six quarters of the season without a point.
Ah, but the defense has been a more pleasant story. After holding Hamden to six points, coordinator Jordan Panucci's boys held Harding to 14, really making only one mistake all night: Coleman Adams' 93-yard touchdown run on Harding's first double wing play of the game.
“The defense has been there for us,” Fitch coach Mike Ellis said after the 28-14 win. “They've gelled so far, probably a little more than the offense has.”
Two-way lineman Nick Helbig had three quarterback sacks and Daniel Mojica had two. Nelli picked off a pass late in the fourth period to seal the game.
Fitch plays Waterford on Friday in the annual Mike Ellis Bowl. Ellis used to coach Waterford and is still employed there as a math teacher.
•••• New London failed to take advantage of multiple Notre Dame of West Haven turnovers during Friday's 33-19 loss.
The Whalers gave Notre Dame too many opportunities, too.
New London were penalized 13 times for 87 yards. It was almost double what it had in its 20-7, season-opening win over the Capital Prep/Achievement First co-op on Sept. 7.
“(It was) not bad last week at all,” Burns said of the penalties. “(Friday) was tougher. Some of it could be attributed to depending on probably a little more youth than people are aware of. We've got some young guys who can play, but with that is going to come some mistakes.”
The Whalers assisted Notre Dame too many times on its first scoring drive. The Green Knights began the drive at their own 8-yard line late
in the first quarter after Dominick Avallone sacked Owen George on fourth-and-goal from the ND 2.
It was the ninth play in which New London didn't score that quarter despite being within 14 yards of the Green Knights' end zone.
The Whalers were called for four penalties on ND's drive. That included two encroachment penalties on second-and-14 from the Green Knights' 40-yard line, and thirdand-16 at the New London 16.
•••• Dan Annibalini was a bright spot for Waterford in its 28-14 loss to Guilford on Friday night. The senior receiver caught two passes for 87 yards and both plays were spectacular.
The first was a 59-yard touchdown catch from Ryan Bakken in the third quarter that got the Lancers on the scoreboard. Annibalini gathered in the long pass, then shook off two defenders and ran the final 17 yards for the score. The other was a circus catch for 28 yards on the fifth play of the fourth quarter.
Annibalini also had four booming punts — all in the first half — that helped the Lancers turn the field around. So, despite not playing on defense, he also helped out that unit.
“He was injured all of last year,'' said Waterford coach John Strecker. “He was nursing a bad shoulder the whole season. He had a great year as a sophomore on that team that went 7-3.''
•••• New London's defense and special teams were quite active in its game against Notre Dame. Jahri Marcus recovered the opening kickoff in stride after the ball bounced off a Green Knights' player and ran to the ND 41-yard line before being tackled. Anthonio Lebron-Jones recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for the Whalers' first touchdown with 4:39 left in the first quarter. JoJo Lucas and Clayton Smith also had fumble recoveries, and Jason Harvey had an interception . ... The Whalers' Jaylen Callender took one of the hardest hits of the game, but not from an ND player. Callender ran 34 yards to the Notre Dame 47 late in the first quarter and was pushed out of bounds. Callender lost his footing and crashed sideways into the Green Knights' bench, causing the crowd to go “oh-hhhh”. Callender got up and continued to play. He scored New London's final touchdown on a 1-yard run with over a minute left . ... New London's Zehki Burgis is going to be a player to watch this season. Notre Dame struggled to defend him as he had 10 catches for 156 yards.
•••• The only things that kept this weekend from being a total disaster for ECC football was Fitch, and that none of its other teams were inhaled by a black hole.
The ECC went 1-7 in crossovers between it, the SCC and SWC as part of a scheduling alliance between the three leagues. Fitch was the lone winner.
The ECC split with the SCC in Week 1 as Norwich Free Academy beat winless Xavier (26-13) and Fitch lost to Hamden. Norwalk, from the FCIAC, also won at East Lyme (41-24).
The ECC has three other nonleague wins against independent programs, too. Windham beat CREC in Week 1 (49-0), and New London beat Capital Prep/Achievement First (20-7). Windham also beat Capital/Achievement last Friday, 49-0.
Add in all those results and the ECC is still below the Mendoza Line out-of-conference (5-9), though. No es bueno. • • • • Thanks to Dave Davidson Davis (Waterford-Guilford) and Mike DiMauro (Fitch-Harding) for their contributions to this here Polecat.
•••• That's all for now. Thanks for reading. Keep an eye out for the state Polecat either Monday night or Tuesday morning, depending on how fast we work.
Adios.